The Start of Something New

I’m in a class at school called IDiploma. This class isn’t the same as a normal class is at school though. The thing that surprised me the most when I first learned about it was that there were no grades, there was only feedback. So to me, this class is really more of a program, and your classmates are more like team members. Actually, to help figure out the roles that each person had in the group, we all took something called the Gallop Strength Test. Think of it like a Buzzfeed personality quiz, but with better questions and more accuracy. What was cool about the results of this test was how accurate they actually were. Each person would get certain traits in a group, like let’s say that two people in the group both got Empathy, but instead of the descriptions being the same, each one would be almost completely different for each person. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised when I got the trait Adaptability because that meant that I did well in changing environments, and I had never really thought about that part of me before. I also learned some other skills of mine like Empathy, being able to know how others are feeling in a group, Developer, helping encourage others, Positivity, and Intellection, liking reading and thinking up of theories and new perspectives on those readings. That’s not the only thing we did this week though.

One thing that we did was go out to this park where all the playground sets were art, and observed things to see what they were made of, how they might have been made, and how they could improve. This made me want to observe the world around me more, and I want to try to keep that in mind when I’m going about my day at school. Also I want to practice associating ideas so I can diverge into different topics in a discussion or a brainstorm for ideas. In the long term I want to become a better innovator in my day to day life. Because this long term goal may seem a little far away, our team has decided to create challenges for ourselves for a month to help reach our long term goal, sort of like a mini goal. For my challenge I am going to video blog for the month every day, and I hope this will help me practice getting my thoughts out there, because I’m not to good at putting my thoughts into words. I was going to use the video blogs to connect with people on YouTube, but I don’t feel like I’m ready to put them out there quite yet, but if I feel up to it when this challenge ends, I may put them on here. (maybe)

In IDiploma, you really have to be ready to put yourself forward, and this scares me a little bit, because I have a harder time making my voice heard in a discussion. Sometimes I don’t word my idea right, and then it just gets lost. This is a little ironic as well because my role as a Developer in the group means that I like to encourage other people to pitch into the discussion. This small fear of sharing my ideas in a group sometimes stops me from speaking up in a group discussion, or sharing out after a activity. I want to work on this while I’m in this program so I can get my thoughts heard.

I think this week I’m going to try to speak out more during the day, observe what is going on around me more, and try to change my day up a little bit. I think if I choose to do these few steps this week it will help with some of my strengths like Adaptability, Empathy, and Intellection, and just help me practice becoming an innovator. Thank for reading this blog!

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3 thoughts on “The Start of Something New”

Anna, thanks for sharing your experience in iDiploma so far. It sounds like you are off to a great start with some self discovery and personal goal setting. I am glad you are motivated by your work and excited to focus on other’s feedback, for growth, rather than “grades.” I love the pieces of the Innovator’s DNA that you have sprinkled throughout your writing. Those observation and association skills will take you far.

Watch yourself on any fixed mindset language like, ” I’m not to good at putting my thoughts into words.” I believe you are good at putting your thoughts into words, but if you don’t believe that, just adding a “yet” will do wonders for your metacognitive practice.

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About This Blog

Hey! My name is Anna and I am a sophomore at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School. I’ve made this blog originally for a course at my school called Idiploma, which is a period where you learn how to be a better innovator, and if you want to know more about it, click the link. I now post some stuff about school in general too. On this blog, I will be posting what I’m learning, working on, some finished products, and reflections about the things that happen during school.